The respiratory mask comprises an oronasal face piece and a harness. The oronasal face piece is intended to be applied on the face of the user in a use position to provide oxygen enriched respiratory gas. The harness enables to maintain the oronasal face piece on the face of the user. The respiratory mask may comprise a separate eye protective shield (goggles) or an eye protective shield integral with the oronasal face piece. The eye protective shield provides protection in particular against smoke and can also support a display device.
In a stowage position, the respiratory mask is stowed in the stowage device, in the cabin of a commercial aircraft having crewmembers and passengers. The cabin is pressurised for enabling the passengers and the pilots to normally breathe within the cabin.
In case of depressurisation, due a to a failure of the pressurising device or a hole through which the cabin air leaks, the user of the emergency equipment, usually a pilot, grasp the respiratory mask bring it out of the stowage device through an opening and place the respiratory mask on the face in a use position with only one hand.
Such stowage devices are important for protecting the respiratory mask and they satisfy the need for having a location for storing the respiratory mask in a predefined position so as to ensure that the aircraft crewmember quickly applies the respiratory on his face.
That is the reason why the stowage devices are sometimes placed into the instrument panel of the aircraft cockpit, within arm's reach, near the pilots. The stowage device may be in front or on one side of the pilot.
When an oxygen deficiency is detected, the pilot has got less than 5 seconds to grasp the emergency mask and to apply it on his face.
So, it is important that the respiratory mask can move easily in the stowage device and the harness quickly inflates.
But, the cockpit of the aircrafts has usually a dedicated place for mounting such stowage devices. Because of all the other equipments which have also to be within arm's reach of the pilot, such a dedicated place is limited and the stowage device have to respect some dimensional features. Therefore, the size of the opening cannot be increased.
An object of the invention is to provide a stowage device from which the emergency equipment can be extracted easily, which enables the harness to be quickly and completely inflated and which takes into account the technical requirement relating to the place dedicated to receive the stowage device.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a stowage device, which can be quickly replaced by another one in case of deficiency, or that can replace a former stowage device in case of refitting of the cockpit or failure of the former stowage device.